Jacob's Pillow Dance Photos | LINES Ballet & Wang Ramirez

Photographing Alonzo King LINES Ballet at Jacob’s Pillow

Robb Beresford and Kara Wilkes of Alonzo King's Lines Ballet in "Biophony" at Jacob's Pillow by Christopher Duggan

Robb Beresford and Kara Wilkes of Alonzo King LINES Ballet in “Biophony” at Jacob’s Pillow.

I had to wait to publish this week’s blog post, because The New York Times was here reviewing both main stage performances at Jacob’s Pillow and wanted to use my images. Now that both dance reviews are live in the paper, I can publish the dance photos I made of each company.

It’s been several years since Alonzo King LINES Ballet has been at the Pillow, and I was excited for their return. Their dancers look and dance like their name “lines.” Long legs, long extensions and beautiful bodies moving so gracefully.

Courtney Henry, Robb Beresford, and Kara Wilkes of Alonzo King LINES Ballet in “Biophony”.

Shuaib Elhassan of Alonzo King LINES Ballet in “Men’s Quintet”.

Photographing Company Wang Ramirez at Jacob’s Pillow

Sébastien Ramirez and Honji Wang in “Monchichi” at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.

Company Wang Ramirez in Monchichi was a welcome mystery for me. Something I was not familiar with before this week other than watching their video ahead of time to do some research on the piece. I wondered how a duet could hold my attention for an entire evening, but Honji & Sabastian are captivating dancers. The set is minimal and speaks like a haiku. I loved making these photographs.

Sébastien Ramirez and Honji Wang of Company Wang Ramirez in “Monchichi” at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.

Creative Portraits

Anisa Scott and Alvaro Montelongo Ali Modad

I’ve been waiting and wondering during this year’s “off” months from September through May about what creative portraits I would make with dancers during the 2015 festival. I always bring a few ideas to each dance portrait shoot, and having ideas is a good place to start… But when I’m working with the really creative artists the Pillow brings each summer, I get the most thrill out of collaborating with them in the moment. Making it up as we go along is challenging, terrifying, satisfying and fun. I’m always surprised to find these talented artists are excited to collaborate with me, too.

These are just a few images we made in weeks 1-3. Many more to come!